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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Ministry Opportunity

So, this is a few months old, but going through the old photos I came across this story that I meant to share and never did. Our construction materials supplier learned about a needy family not far from The Village. The family is an elderly couple who is still caring for their adult, special-needs daughter. They needed a room for their daughter to live in, but the place they were staying didn't have a roof over that room. The supplier agreed to provide the materials but they needed hands and tools to do it.

Our big girls fit the washers onto the roof screws

So, we gathered up our kids and headed over to help. It was a pretty simple project. Josh Parker and I were on the roof, while the girls and our sales rep gave us tools, screws and sheet metal. The younger kids spent the time running around trying to stay out of trouble. It really wasn't much work but it was an enjoyable opportunity to help.

Another shot of the girls working

As an added element of excitement, the couple told us they had seen a hippo that week just outside their house. They live next to one of the lakes created by runoff from the mine treatment facilities. And by "next to the lake", I mean the shore is maybe 15 feet from their front door. While we do live in Africa, there really aren't wild animals running around anymore. So we weren't sure whether to believe them or not. Of course, my skepticism didn't keep me from constantly watching the water to see if I could catch a glimpse:-)

The girls and our sales rep putting up the metal

Then, the following week in the newspaper there was a story about a hippo that had escaped from a farm about 20 miles away and had wandered over to that lake. They wanted to tranquilize it, but were afraid that it would die by drowning. So they shot it instead. Seems like pretty much the same result so you would think they would have at least given tranquilizer a shot (pun intended). But we've learned that sometimes you don't ask those questions. The answer may be more confusing than the logic!